Cons:

Following closely on the heels of LucasArts' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Fracture is another third-person action shooter that lacks lightsabers but does have some clever new technology that enables you to mold the terrain as you see fit. Fracture hinges a good deal of its appeal on its visually impressive terrain deformation technology, but the follow-up simply isn't there, at least in the single-player campaign.

As a result, the plot and action of Fracture come off as derivative and generic, right down to the muscle-bound space marine-esque main character Jet Brody, who enjoys only limited use of the terrain deformation features and fights with weapons that are as few and far between as their applications. Meanwhile, however, the multiplayer positively sings, and the greater availability of weapons and more tactical uses for the terrain deformation make taking Fracture online among the few pleasures offered by the title.

Tripping the Rift

Fracture features a pretty interesting arsenal that includes a rocket launcher that fires tunneling missiles that can be detonated at will, but the most interesting weapons can't be used all the time (and come with extremely limited ammunition as well). The subterranean explosive projectiles, for example, will detonate if they impact something solid, like the edge of one of Fracture's terrain deformation sandboxes (bounded areas where terrain deformation is possible) or a piece of metal jutting from the ground, so it can only be used under very specific circumstances. Sweet grenades that suck enemies into a vortex where they are crushed by swirling debris are awesome, but you can only carry two at a time, so you are forced to use them sparingly, always worrying that you may need them later.

Unfortunately, even with infinite ammunition, these weapons could only hold your attention for so long, and the variety of enemy encounters combined with the substandard enemy AI don't help matters. Enemies will almost always throw grenades when trapped in enclosed spaces with you (like in an elevator) and typically resort to turtling up behind cover. Sometimes, you can use the terrain deforming abilities of your Entrencher to remove the cover, but the times when you can't are incredibly frustrating and make battles frequently degenerate into soaking up bullets as you close in to route the enemies from their hidey-holes.

Online Optimism

Multiplayer saves Fracture from itself in a way, because the wealth of modes and greater availability of weapons (not to mention the superior AI of human opponents and team members) provide a much deeper degree of variety. Here too we can see that the terrain deformation takes on a much more tactical tenor, because every player can use the Entrencher. While you busily build bulwarks to thwart enemy advancements, they can just as handily break them down with their Entrenchers and grenades. The sum of Fracture's gameplay features create a chaotic yet wholly satisfying online experience.

At the same time, Fracture suffers from some performance issues and the framerate dives during particularly intense action in both multiplayer and single-player (even in random cut-scenes), so even though the multiplayer is incredibly fun, the entire package is still flawed in a couple of ways that can't be ignored. Despite Fracture's promises of altering the gaming landscape as we know it, its aftershocks will likely be nearly imperceptible.